Vending-machine



H. D. DESHLER.

VENDING MACHINE.

Attorneys.

Patented Aug. 15, 1916.

2 SHEETS-QHEET I H. D. DESHLER.

VENDING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY27 EH5- 1 ,1 94,724. Patented Aug. 15, 1916.

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Attorneys,

HENRY D. IDESHLER, F BELVIDERE, NEW JERSEY.

VENDING-MACHINE.

Application filed May 27,1915.

One of the objects of the invention is to' provide a vending machine having a pack age outlet provided with a closure which is normally locked whereby it is impossibleto obtain access to the contents of the machine without depositing a coin.

A. further object is to provide coin controlled locking means so constructed and mounted that, when a coin of proper denomination is inserted into the machine, the door is unlocked.

Another object is to provide actuating means normally locked but which is adapted to be unlocked when the said coin is inserted into the machine, the inserted coin operating as a power transmitting medium whereby motion is transmitted from the operating means to the door or closure and said closure shifted to its open position.

A further object is to provide means controlled by the inserted coin for ejecting a package into and partly through the opening immediately subsequent to the shifting of the closure to open position, such ejection of the package'resulting in the release of the deposited coin into a receptacle provided therefor and in the release of the locking means whereby the operating device hecomes relocked inits set position and the closure becomes relocked in its normal or closed position.

A further object is to provide means for discarding slugs inserted into the machine so that the said machine will not become clogged.

A still further object is to provide means for closing the coin receiving slot in the machine after a coin of proper denomination has been inserted into the machine, so that it is thus impossible to insert more than one coin at a time, the said coin receiving slot remaining closed until after the completion. of the operation of ejecting a pack-, age.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 15, 1916.

Serial No. 30,799.

l/Vith the foregoing and other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention resides in the com-,

bination and arrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafter described and claimed, it being understood that changes in the precise embodiment of the invention herein disclosed, can be made within the scope of what is claimed, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

In the accompanying drawings the pre ferred form of the invention has been shown.

In said drawings :Figure 1 is a front elevation of the interior of the machine, the front wall of the casing being removed and certain of the interior parts being shown in section, said figure being a section on line A-B Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a section on line C-D Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 1 but with the partition plate and the parts carried thereby removed, said figure being more especially a section on line E-F Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3 and showing the positions of the parts when the gate or closure is opened and the plunger is projected forwardly to eject a package. Fig. 5 is a side elevation of the machine. Fig. 6 is a section on line GH Fig. 3. Fig. 7 is a section on line I Fig. 4. Fig. 8 is a perspective view of the latch. Fig. 9 is a front elevation of the upper portion of a slightly modified form of machine.

Referring to the figures by characters of reference 1 designates the back plate of the machine which is adapted tobe secured to the back of a theater chair or any other suitable structure, there being, preferably, a spacing block 2 interposed between the plate 1 and the supporting structure S, as shown in Fig. 5. The back plate is provided, along one side, with a forwardly ex ending flange 3 and along the bottom with a forwardly extending flange 4. The flange 3 is cut away at its lower end to form an outlet opening 5.

Guide elements which may be in the form of screws 6 extend forwardly from the upper portion of the back plate 1 and through a slot 7 formed longitudinally within plunger 8. This plunger may be provided with a flange 9 extending along one side thereof and engaged by one end of a spring 10 which is secured to the plate 1 in any manner desired. This spring thus serves to hold the plunger normally elevated with the lower end wall of slot 7 pressfing against the lower guide element 6. A.

small opening 11 is formed in the plate 1 near the upper end thereof and said plate 1 is provided between said opening 11 and the upper edge of the plate, with a series of ratchet teeth 12. A pawl 13 is pivotally mounted on the flange 9 and is held, by a spring 14, normally at right angles to the plate 1. Thus when the plunger 8 is thrust downwardly, the pawl 13 will swing out of its normal position and slip over the ratchet teeth 12, preventing upward movement of the plunger 8 until after the pawl has passed over the ratchet teeth and to position in front of the opening 11, whereupon the said pawl will swing into position at right angles to the plate 1 and will thus be free to slip upwardly over the teeth 12, thereby permitting plunger 8 to return to its normal raised position.

Plunger 8 is provided at one side of its lower end with a toe 15 normally seated in a recess 16 formed in one side of a keeper 17 which is pivotally connected to plate 1 as indicated at 18. This keeper is held by gravity normally in position against one side of the plunger with the toe 15 resting in the recess 16, thereby preventing the plunger from being forced downwardly.

Arranged under and close to the keeper 17 is the inclined head 19 of an ejecting lever 20 lulcrumed, as at 21, upon the plate 1 and having its lower end projecting into an ejecting slide 22 mounted on the bottom flange 4 and extending throughout the width of the flange. A stop pin 23 or the like is located adjacent one side of lever 20 and a spring 24 serves to hold the lever normally pressed against this stop and the ejecting slide 22 normally retracted away from the discharge opening 5.

A lifting lever 25 is pivotally mounted on the plate 1, as shown at 26 and has upwardly converging slightly curved upper edges 27 and 28 meeting to form a point or apex 29 located directly above the pivot 26. The edge 28 is inclined downwardly toward the head 19 of lever 20 and terminates under the plunger 8 and slightly below the head 19. The edge 27 extends toward the flange 3 and merges into a tongue 30 adapted to work between projections 31 extend ing inwardly from the upper portion of a door 32. This door has a longitudinal slot 33 into which extends a guide member 34 which can be in the form of a screw extending from the flange 3. The door extends throughout the width of the flange 3 and normally closes the opening 5 at the lower end of said flange. A spring 35 is secured to the plate 1 and engages the lower portion of the lifting lever 25, thus holding the tongue 30 normally depressed and the door 32 normally closed.

It will be seen that a restricted throat 36 i is formed between thehead 19 of lever 20 and the adjacent end of the lifting lever 25, this throat being disposed directly under the plunger 8. Arranged below the throat is a deflecting lip 37. A stop pin 38 or the like is arranged under lever 25 for the purpose of limiting its movement in one direction.

Pivotally connected to the lower portion of the keeper 17 is one end of a latch lever 39 which extends across the throat 36 and also across one side of the lifting lever 25. Latch lever 39 is provided with an ear 40 which engages and is adapted to slide along the curved edge 27 of lifting lever 25. A slot 41 extends into latch lever 39 and under the ear 40 and a locking pin 42 or the like is normally extended into said slot 41 from the plate 1. A tongue 43 is extended downwardly from the latch lever and below the slot 41 and is provided with an inwardly extending ear 44 which extends under lifting lever 25 and thus limits the upward movement of the latch lever 39 relative to the lifting lever 25. y

A plate 45 is arranged on that corner portion of the plate 1 at the upper end of the flange 3 and this plate is engaged by a magnet 46 which is preferably inclined as shown in Figs. 3 and 4, thus to form the bottom wall of the upper portion of an inclined coin receiving passage 47, the lower portion of said passage being formed by the edge 23 of the lifting lever 25. A slug receiving passage is formed between the edge 27 0t lever 25 and the lower edge of plate 45 and of magnet 46, this slug receiving passage being indicated at 48. Said slug receiving passage leads to a slot 49 formed in the flange 3.

Secured to the plate 1 is a partition 50 which fits close to the levers 20 and 39 and to the magnet 46 so that said levers and the various parts coiiperating therewith are thus housed between plate 1 and partition 50. Said partition has a coin receiving opening 51 through which the deflecting lip 37 extends and secured to the partition and directly under this opening 51 is a coin receptacle 52. A slot- 53 is formed in the upper portion of partition 50 to receive the flange 9 of plunger 8 and the pawl carried by said flange. The lower portion of the partition 50 is cut away to permit movement of the ejecting slide 22 thereunder. The partition also terminates close to the gate 32 so as to constitute a guide for the gate, there being a forwardly extending magazine wall 54 along which the gate 32 moves, and another magazine wall 55 which is parallel with the wall 54 and located adjacent slot 53 and coin receptacle 52. The magazine walls terminate above the path of the ejecting slide 22 and said ejecting slide has its active end normally in alinement with the inner side wall 55 of the magazine, as shown in Fig. 1.

A casing 56 houses the mechanism hereinbefore described, this casing being open at the bottom and having its back wall cut away so as to receive the spacing element 2. The plunger 8 serves to yieldingly support the casing by engaging the top thereof and when the casing is thus held, the lower portion of one wall thereof will close the opening 5. An opening 57 is formed in one wall of the casing and is normally closed by the flange 3. hen, however, the casing is forced downwardly, this opening 57 will be brought into register with the opening 5. A slot 58 is formed in one wall of the casing and normally registers with the slot 49. A coin receiving slot 59 is formed in the top of the casing and is adapted to direct a coin into the passage 47. A closure 60 is pivotally mounted upon the bottom face of the top of casing 56 and has a depending curved arm 61 extending into the passage 17 and toward the throat 36. A spring 62 holds the closure 60 normally removed from the slot 59, as shown in Fig. 7. The lower portion of arm .61 normallv bears against the plate 1 but said arm 61 diverges upwardly away from the plate as shown in Fig. 7.

In order to prevent a deposited coin from falling over the partition 50 and into the magazine, a deflecting spring 68 extends upwardly from the partition 50 and at one side of the coin receiving slot 59. The casing 56 can be limited in its upward movement in any desired manner, it being possible to use a lock for permitting limited up and down movement of the casing relative to the mechanism therein, but preventing the removal of the casing by unauthorized persons. It is not deemed necessary to describe or illustrate such a structure.

When it is desired to use the machine herein described, the packages to be dispensed are placed in a stack in the magazine between the walls 54- and 55 so that the lower package will rest on the bottom flange l directly in front of the ejecting slide 22. The casing 56 is then placed over the plate 1 and partition 50 and the parts carried thereby and locked so as to have a limited up and down movement. As before pointed out, the casing rests on the plunger 8 and whenin its normal position closes the'opening 5. hen a coin of proper value is inserted in the slot 59 it will fall onto the magnet 46 and roll downwardly along passage 17 and become seated in the throat 36, the coin resting upon the edge 28 of lever 25 and the head 19 of lever 20. In moving to this position the coin wedges between the plate 1 and the arm 61, thus shifting the closure 60 to position under slot 59 to prevent the insertion of another coin. The coin also, during this movement, strikes against the lower end of the keeper 17, thus shifting the keeper laterally to the position indicated in Fig. l and thereby disengaging it from the toe 15. Plunger 8 can now be thrust downwardly and, by pushing downwardly on the casing 56, the plunger 8 will move therewith and will thrust against the inserted coin. As the end of lever 25 is more directly under the coin than is the head 19 of lever 20, said lever 25 will first be actuated by the coin. The actuation of lever will result in the elevation of the door 32 which is permitted by reason of the fact that when the keeper 17 was shifted by the coin, the latch lever 39 was withdrawn from engagement with the locking projection 12. After the door has been raised in the manner described and lever 25 brought against its stop 88, further downward movement of the coin under the action of the plunger 8 will result in the shifting of head 19 laterally and, consequently, the actua tion of slide 22 which will eject the lowermost package partly through the opening 5 which is now unobstructed by the door 32 and the casing 56. These positions of the parts have been illustrated in Fig. As soon as the coin passes from between levers 25 and 20 it will be deflected by lip 37 through the opening 51 and into the receptacle 52. Simultaneously with the passage of the coin out of engagement with the two levers 25 and 20, springs 21 and 35 will return the levers to their normal positions. In other words, spring 35 will swing lever 25 so that tongue 30 will move the door 32 downwardly. Spring 2% will actuate lever 20 so that the slide 22 will be retracted to its set position. Vhen door 32 moves downwardly it will engage the partly ejectedpackage and grip it until said package is withdrawn by the customer whereupon the door will snap to its closed position. As soon as the casing 56 is released after the foregoing action, the spring 10 which 0011- trols the plunger 8, will return the plunger and said casing to their elevated positions, thus allowing keeper 17 to swing back to the position shown in Fig. 3. This swinging movement of keeper 17 will result in the latch lever 39 moving laterally into engagement with the locking projection 12 so that the door thus becomes locked in closed position. After the eoin has passed out of engagement with the levers 25 and 20 the arm 61 will be free to swing back against the plate 1, thus allowing the closure 60 to move from under the slot 59. Consequently an other coin can then be inserted into the machine. Should a slug be inserted in the machine it would be deflected by magnet 4-6 into the slug passage 18 and would gravitate along the edge 27 of lever and through the alining slots to and 58.

It is to be understood of course that it is not necessary to utilize a slidable casing for actuating the plunger 8. Instead of providing such a structure the plunger 8 can be extended upwardly through a fixed casing 56, as shown at 64% in Fig. 9.

l/Vhat is claimed is 1. The combination With a structure hav ing a package outlet, a door normally closing the outlet, and an ejector, of anactuating element, means normally holding said element against movement, door locking means connected to said holding means, means for directing a coin against said holding means to shift it out of holding position and unlock the door, and separate means operated by the coin under the action of the released actuating element, for successively opening the door and moving the ejector.

2. The combination with a structure having a package outlet, a door normally closing the outlet, and an ejector, of an actuating element, means normally holding said element against movement, a door shifting member, an ejector shifting member, means carried by said holding means for locking the door shifting member against move ment, and means for directing a coin onto said member and against the holding means to unlock the door shifting member and the actuating means, said coin constituting means for transmitting motion from the actuating means to the door shifting and ejector shifting members.

3. The combination with a structure having a package outlet, a door normally closing the outlet, of a door shifting member, an actuating element, means for holding said element against movement, a latch con nected to the holding means, means cooperating with the latch for fastening the door shifting member against movement, and means for directing a coin into position between the actuating means and the door shifting member, said coin constituting means for shifting the holding means and the latch out of active position and for transmitting motion from the actuating means to the door shifting member.

l. The combination with a structure having a package outlet, a door normally closing the outlet, and a lifting lever connected to the door, of a yieldingly supported plunger, a keeper for holding the plunger against movement in one direction, a latch pivotally connected to the keeper and supported by the lifting lever, means engaged by the latch for holding the lifting lever and door against movement out of normal position, and means for directing a coin against the keeper to release the plunger and lifting lever and to transmit motion from the plunger to the lifting lever.

5. The combination With a structure having a package outlet, a door normally closing the outlet, and a lifting lever engaging the door, of a yieldingly supported plunger, a keeper for limiting the movement of the plunger in one direction, a latch con nected to the keeper, means normally engaged by the latch for locking the door and lifting leveragainst movement out of normal position, means for directing a coin against the keeper to disengage it from the plunger and to Withdraw the latch from holding position, said coin constituting means for transmitting motion from the plunger to the lifting lever, and cooperating means upon the plunger and structure for holding the plunger against return movement to its normal position until after the completion of its movement in the opposite direction. r

G. The combination With a structure having a package outlet, a door normally closing the outlet, and an ejector, of a lifting lever connected to the door, an ejecting lever connected to the ejector, said levers cooperating normally to form a coin receiving throat, a plunger, a keeper for holding the plunger normally in a predetermined position, means for directing a coin against the keeper to release the plunger and to engage the levers, said coin constituting means for transmitting motion from the released plunger to the levers to open the door and actuate the ejector.

7 The combination with a structure having a package outlet, a door normally closing the outlet, and an ejector, of a lifting lever connected to the door, an ejecting lever connected to the ejector, said levers cooperating normally to form a coin re ceiving throat, a plunger, a keeper for holding the plunger normally in a predetermined position, means for directing a coin against the keeper to release the plunger and to engage the levers, said coin constituting means for successively actuating the lifting lever and the ejecting lever from the released plunger, thereby to open the door and shift the ejector successively.

S. The combination With a structure having a package outlet, a door normally closing the outlet, and an ejector, of a lifting lever engaging the door, an ejecting lever engaging the ejector, a yieldingly supported plunger, a keeper for holding the plunger normally in raised position, a latch connected to the keeper, means cooperating with the latch for normally holding the lifting lever against movement, and means for directing a coin against the keeper to release the plunger and lifting lever and to engage the lifting and ejecting levers, said coin constituting means for transmitting motion from the released plunger to said lever.

9. The combination With a structure having a package outlet and a coin inlet, a door normally closing the outlet, and a lifting lever engaging the door, of a plunger, a keeper for holding the plunger normally in one position, a latch connected to the keeper, means cooperating With the latch for holding the lifting lever against movement, a closure for the coin inlet, means for holding the closure normally in open position, means for directing a coin against the keeper to release the plunger and lifting lever, means operated by the inserted coin for moving the closure to position across the coin inlet, said released plunger constituting means for disengaging said coin from said means upon the closure and for actuating lever.

10. The combination With a structure having a package outlet, a door normally closing the outlet, and an ejector, of a lifting lever connected to the door, an ejecting lever connected to the ejector, a yieldingly supported plunger, a keeper holding the plunger normally in a predetermined position, a latch connected to the keeper, means cooperating with the latch for holding the lifting lever against movement, a casing the lifting Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the slidably mounted on said structure and having .a package receiving opening normally out of alinement with the outlet in said structure, there being a coin receiving opening in the casing, and means for directing a coin from said opening and against the keeper to release the plunger and lifting lever, said coin constituting means for transmitting motion from the released plunger to the lifting and ejecting levers, said casing, when depressed, operating the plunger and bringing the package receiving opening in the easing into alinement with the package outlet in the first mentioned structure.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto afiixed my signature in the presence of two Witnesses.

HENRY D.- DESHLER.

WVitnesses:

CHARLOTTE C. Kn'roriAM, BENJAMIN FRANK FITTs.

Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G. 

